Jesse Johnson - The Japan Times

January 21, 2025

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Jesse Johnson

Then-U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo in May 2019.

JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS

Jan 19, 2025

As Trump returns, will Japan be able to weather the storm?

Tokyo may be surprisingly more suited to work with Trump — and beat back any exorbitant demands — than it was during his first stint.

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (left) and his South Korean counterpart, Cho Tae-yul, shake hands during their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul on Monday.

JAPAN / Politics

Jan 13, 2025

Japan top diplomat visits South Korea amid political turmoil in Seoul

The talks on bilateral and trilateral cooperation also came just a week before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is due to take office.

Rahm Emanuel professes that the biggest thing he has brought to the U.S.-Japan relationship might be a fresh injection of vitality.

JAPAN / Politics

Jan 9, 2025

Emanuel leaves reform legacy amid historic shifts in U.S.-Japan alliance

The departing U.S. ambassador arguably oversaw the most consequential shift in the U.S.-Japan alliance in decades.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya at the start of their working lunch at a hotel in Tokyo on Tuesday.

JAPAN / Politics

Jan 7, 2025

Blinken in final Japan visit as Trump's return weighs on Tokyo's mind

The top U.S. diplomat sought to reassure Tokyo that the U.S.-Japan alliance will remain robust even after Donald Trump returns to the White House in less than two weeks.

A missile flies during what North Korea said was a test of a new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile at an undisclosed location on Monday.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jan 7, 2025

North Korea's Kim says new hypersonic missile can deter Pacific 'rivals'

In a worrying sign for Japan, Pyongyang claimed the new hypersonic intermediate-range weapon is effective at "breaking any dense defensive barrier.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is shown around by South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul during a working luncheon at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul on Monday.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

Jan 6, 2025

Blinken fends off questions over U.S. stance on South Korea turmoil

The United States “has confidence in the resilience of South Korea’s democracy and the strength of its institutions,” the U.S. Secretary of State said in Seoul.

A man walks past a TV broadcasting a news report on North Korea firing a ballistic missile, in Seoul on Monday.

ASIA PACIFIC

Jan 6, 2025

North Korea fires off intermediate-range missile in first launch of 2025

The missile, thought to be an IRBM carrying a hypersonic warhead, flew some 1,100 kilometers (683 miles) before splashing down in waters outside Japan's EEZ.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Dec. 24. Ishiba has, unsuccessfully, sought to meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump since November, with Trump’s team saying at the time that no meetings with foreign leaders would take place before his January inauguration.

JAPAN / Politics

Dec 31, 2024

Ishiba rules out pre-inauguration meeting with Trump

Ishiba had sought a mid-January meeting with Trump but said over the weekend that sooner didn't necessarily mean better when it came to talks with the incoming U.S. president.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a meeting of the country's ruling party in Pyongyang in this photo released Sunday.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

Dec 29, 2024

North Korea launches 'toughest' U.S. strategy at key party meeting

In a signal to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, North Korea has used a key party meeting overseen by leader Kim Jong Un to announce its “toughest” ever strategy to counter the United States, Pyongyang's state-run media said Sunday.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shakes hands with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Nov. 15 during their meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima.

JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS

Dec 26, 2024

Japan and China to continue delicate diplomatic dance in 2025

While Tokyo and Beijing have touted the importance of thawing ties, experts say a number of issues are likely to mean continued hedging by both sides.

Elbridge Colby (center) speaks at the Threat and the Strategy panel during the Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, in September 2019.

JAPAN / Politics

Dec 23, 2024

Trump's Pentagon policy pick pushed for Japan to spend 3% of GDP on defense

Elbridge Colby said in an interview earlier this year that Japan is moving at a leisurely pace on defense despite being under threat from China and North Korea.

A visitor takes pictures near models of military equipment and a giant screen displaying Chinese leader Xi Jinping, at an exhibition at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution in Beijing in October 2022.

ASIA PACIFIC

Dec 19, 2024

Graft scandals disrupt China military modernization, Pentagon report says

At least 15 high-ranking Chinese military officers and defense industry executives were removed between July and December 2023, the report says.

Businessman George Glass has been selected by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to be the next ambassador to Japan.

JAPAN / Politics

Dec 17, 2024

Trump picks businessman George Glass as Japan ambassador

Glass, who served as ambassador to Portugal during Trump's first administration, is known as one of the biggest fundraisers for his reelection bid.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (right) delivers remarks at a news conference alongside Howard Lutnik, his pick for commerce secretary, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday.

JAPAN / Politics

Dec 17, 2024

Trump says he's open to meeting Ishiba before inauguration

The U.S. president-elect says it's up to Tokyo to make the meeting happen.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (left) and his wife, Melania (right), pose for a photo with Akie Abe, the widow of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday in this image posted on Melania Trump's X social media account.

JAPAN / Politics

Dec 16, 2024

Akie Abe, widow of slain prime minister, meets with Trump

Her meeting has raised some eyebrows for coming before that of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who was unable to meet Trump last month despite numerous requests.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers an address to the nation at his official residence in Seoul on Saturday after the National Assembly voted to impeach him earlier in the day.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

Dec 15, 2024

South Korean president impeached over martial law decree

The 204-85 vote means Yoon Suk Yeol's ultimate fate now rests with the Constitutional Court, which can either decide to formally oust him or return him to office.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and then-Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visit a defense exhibition in July last year.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

Dec 11, 2024

Russia tie-up sparks fears of modernized North Korean defense industry

Experts say the real issue is how deepened North Korean-Russian ties could help revitalize and modernize Pyongyang’s defense industrial base.

A Taiwanese Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet is seen to prepare for landing at an air force base in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Tuesday.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics

Dec 11, 2024

Taiwan detects 53 Chinese military aircraft around island as tensions rise

The tally is the highest for a single day since China’s military last held massive drills around Taiwan in October.

A Taiwanese Air Force Mirage 2000 fighter jet prepares to take off at an air force base in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Tuesday.

ASIA PACIFIC

Dec 10, 2024

Taiwan says China naval deployment is largest in decades

China has deployed the largest number of naval ships to regional waters around Taiwan since the mid-1990s, the Defense Ministry in Taipei said Tuesday.

A line of police officers stand guard as protesters gather at the edge of Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul on Wednesday after President Yoon Suk Yeol formally lifted martial law earlier, six hours after having declared it.

ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS

Dec 4, 2024

Yoon fights for political life as martial law repercussions reverberate

A coalition of lawmakers from six opposition parties on Wednesday submitted a motion to impeach the South Korean president, with a vote set for Friday or Saturday.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.

Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go

By Kazuaki Nagata and Richard Meyer

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